A five-speed manual gearbox is the only way to change gears on the 500 Abarth, and rightly so. In addition to the beefed-up "heavy-duty" gearbox, the Abarth also features upgraded drivetrain components to deal with the increased demands of performance driving.

The Fiat 500 Abarth's speedometer now reads up to 160 mph (although you'll likely never actually see it indicate such) and the instrumentation features an analog turbo-boost gauge with an integrated LED shift light.